Lexus is one step closer to flying cars with its hoverboard prototype

Toyota has not forgotten that in the iconic movie, “Back to the Future,” Marty rides a hoverboard in a scene set on Oct. 21, 2015. Expect Lexus, its luxury car division, to disclose more details about its hoverboard project on that date. Actually, the automaker is already planning to test its prototype (a working model of a hoverboard) this summer in Barcelona.

This is definitely a precursor to flying cars. From its website, we learned that the board is equipped with liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductors and magnets. The technology is progressing faster than anticipated. In fact, a new world speed record was set by a Japanese railway company using a magnetic-levitation train.

A year ago, Toyota revealed experimenting on flying cars. At the Bloomberg Next Big Thing Summit in Sausalito, California, in June 2014, Hiroyoshi Yoshiki, a managing officer in Toyota’s Technical Administration Group, said that its R&D area has been studying the flying car.

He defines a flying car as “just a little bit away from the road, so it doesn’t have any friction or resistance from the road.” The first Back to the Future movie was released 30 years ago. It was in the second movie that Marty used a hoverboard to escape his pursuers.

Mark Templin, Executive Vice President, Lexus International, said: “At Lexus we constantly challenge ourselves and our partners to push the boundaries of what is possible. That determination, combined with our passion and expertise for design and innovation, is what led us to take on the Hoverboard project. It’s the perfect example of the amazing things that can be achieved when you combine technology, design and imagination.” [source: Lexus]